The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Fender brace

I have been looking for a right-side fender brace for my 55.1 half ton. I was sent one and it is different than the one from the left side. I am trying to see if one of the two braces in the picture is from a big bolt?

Kinda looks like the lower brace in your 2nd picture does seem to be a Big Bolt brace. Here's a pic from an ebay offered set of 1-1/2 - 2 Ton front fender braces that looks just like your sample. The extra curve in the brace is clearly evident.

I dug up a pic of my front fender braces ('51 3100) and they also seem a little "curvy" and pretty close to the ones from eBay that Dan posted. I looked at the parts list and couldn't determine whether there was a difference between the smaller trucks and big bolt fender braces. Sorry if I'm muddying the water here, but if the one you got fits, there's no issue. Although the wheel opening is larger on the big bolts.

Let me continue to “Muddy the Waters” and post a photo of mine.

I appreciate your comments. I ordered one thru Mongo's Garage and it is different than the one from the left side. As my truck came from a wrecking yard there is no history available. There is no telling what Frankentruck has had done to it. I cannot fault Mongo as it seems that the 54 and 55.1 fenders are different according to some of the sites I have seen. Below is a picture of the two braces. The one from Mongo is right at 24 inches and the left side I had is just under 25 inches. Could someone that has easy access to a curved brace measure the distance between the ends. I want to get the part done before it is too cold in my garage to get much done. Thank you.

Also thank you for the pic from EBay. I saw that one and had it on my watch list. I was at a show yesterday and the 2 55.1 trucks that were there both were body swaps so it was not very useful. They did not have the original braces.

Don’t forget, GM made at least two widths of front fenders for ‘41 to ‘47 trucks. I have had two sets of full width front fenders.

Ed

I found the correct fender brace finally. It was found by Mongo's Garage. Originally, the brace he sent was from a 1954 Chevrolet 1/2 ton. It was not the same as the driver side. He continued to search and found the correct brace in his yard. So, I guess it is safe to assume that there are at least two variants of fender braces out there. I am wondering whether different assembly plants might have built trucks with minor differences due to availability of parts. Big thanks to Mongo's for the extra effort.

I'm glad you were able to solve the mystery. Another satisfied customer of Mongo’s Garage!

Mongo has a great collection of Trucks in his yard. I could spend all day there just thinking about the stories the have...